Manchester Got It

[jambutty]

Manchester has won the race for the ‘Super Casino’ and it will bring a lot of money to the owners and any ancillary services associated with it not forgetting the local authority.

In my view it will also bring misery to many people as they chance their arm at the gaming tables and most will lose. There is nothing wrong with a little flutter I suppose but far too many people take one step further and then further still in some crass attempt to win back their losses. The initial success of the Lottery scratch cards is testimony to that. Many people would spend all their money on scratch cards and end up with nothing not to mention no food for their kids.

The real bottom line with all forms of gambling is that the organiser takes all the stakes, deducts his expense and profit plus any taxes due to be paid and then returns the balance to a few winners.

Give one hundred people a thousand pounds each and let them loose in a Casino. Collectively they will come back with a lot less than the original £100,000 that they started with although there will be a handful that come out with more than £1,000. Meaning that most people will lose their cash.

What was that about the government trying to encourage us to save more for the future?

Blackpool and the Dome are particularly upset by the award going to Manchester and the ‘Prophets of Doom’ are already spouting on how their areas will become ghost towns.
Somehow I doubt if that will happen.

However does this country need a ‘Super Casino’ with the potential of more being created in later years?

I don’t think that we do.

Most major towns already have casinos not to mention Turf Accountants (is that name still used today?), Bingo halls and of course the Lottery. Surely that is enough gambling temptation?

[WillowTheWhisp]

I really did expect it to go to Blackpool - in a Las Vegas-y kind of way. Manchester has rather surprised me as the location choice.

This is something of an experiment isn't it to see if it's a bad or good thing and then maybe there'll be more.

Personally I can see the idea as a tourist attraction in the way of Las Vegas but I can also see the untold mysery gambling addiction can cause.

[entwisi]

I think its surprised a lot of people, Manchester was bottom of teh list when the shortlist was created. I heard that bookies had even stopped taking bets on Bpool getting it.

Sounds a bit fishy to me..... It wouldn't surprise me if it comes out that someone took a bung

[shillelagh]

Greenwich, Sheffield, Manchester, Blackpool, Cardiff, Newcastle and they picked Manchester!

Mind you Liverpool is the City of Culture next year and its at the other end of the motorway so theyre banking on the visitors going to that. Also you do have the prawn sandwich brigade at Old Trafford.

I thought they would have given it to London - they've got to find a use for the dome somehow! Plus the amount of visitors London's going to get with the olympics and in the run up to it and never mind just normal tourists London should have been the logical choice. Blackpool with its history of gambling and being a holiday resort well why not. Cardiff is the capital of wales and does Cardiff not have any casino's anyway? Anyway its in the North so its us thats going to get the fall out when people cant afford food, kids clothes,rent, electric, gas, phone bills - not on Londons doorstep is it?

[cashman]

i honestly expected the Dome to get the go ahead,if only for justification of the White Elephant it has become. though i think manchester is a better choice than blackpool, cos of its acess from all locations. shame it will be located in Beswick i believe, which is 1 step up from Charles Dickens.i personally have no objection to a super casino, people have choices,simple as. its cheaper for me to go to manchester than return to vegas.

[shakermaker]

Blackpool with the Casino would become like Atlantic City with it's run-down sleazy nature. I'm glad it's in Manchester.

The arguments I've heard against the Casino, saying "it would breed debt and addiction" are absurd. Gambling addiction is completely brought on by the individual, if people don't know when to stop then it's they're own stupidity.

I hope to have a few good nights in there in the future.

[***Mr D***]

I does'nt bother me in where they put this super casino.

At least it will creat more local jobs than if it was in london. Probably cheaper wages to.

As for it will create gambling addiction. I doubt it will cause any real extra impact, If you look whats around In Accrington, 3-4 Slot Arcades, Enough bookies, bingo, + lottery outlets, gambers will gamble.

Then if you see whats available already On Line, which is easier to play than trapsing to a casino. this gambling increase would of already happened.

I saw a slot machine on line, you could pay £900.00 for a single spin.

The casino will probably be membership required, 24 hrs in advance of playing so it probably wont be a drop in place so to speak.

Plus I watched a program called 'biggest betting scams' and might go and try my luck.

[mani]

yeah gotta b surprised about manchester - yeah fair enough its a down lit area but i thought bpool wud've got it myself - mdome wud've been a good choice too

but i can see their logic of it being in manc and not yet another thing in london

[katex]

Originally Posted by mani

yeah gotta b surprised about manchester - yeah fair enough its a down lit area but i thought bpool wud've got it myself - mdome wud've been a good choice too

but i can see their logic of it being in manc and not yet another thing in london

Ok .. I quote from a professional opinion of correspondence I have received and comments as follows:-

'It would apper that Blackpool's bid was not that good, it states that Blackpool would benefit from significant regeneration benefits but only in physical terms. It would appear that they had not developed the case for improving or assessing the potential social benefits/issues that could arise and focused only on the physical/aesthetic improvements. Manchester put together the best programme for maximising the social/community benefits of the casino proposals i.e. links to sport, leisure, training/employment, community infrastructure regeneration, etc.

In addition, a key requirement of the bid was to make provision that the potential impacts of the super casino could be monitored and assessed. The nature of the use of the Blackpool bid meant that the benefits arising would be hard to quantify i.e. Large influence on visitors from outside Blackpool, cashflows transient to private industry, heavy burden on government provided infrastructure. The success of the casino in Blackpool would be near impossible to assess, aside from the improvements to the physical environment. Manchester made provision for all of this in their bid.

Blackpool also had the problem that the bidding system only allowed them to bid for either the Super Casino, one of the eight large casinos, or one of the eight small casinos, meaning that because it didn't win the Super Casino, it was unable to propose a scheme for the large or small casinos .. leaving them ultimately with nothing !!'

Don't think all will be lost for Blackpool though, but does seem sense Manchester got it.

Myself, like Jambutty can't see why we really need a Super Casino, particularly
but gambling goes on every day in the U.K., doesn't it, so we might as well do it in style.

Well done Manchester .. sooner here than down south....

[cherokee]

Well i think manchester put the best package foward although i do think its very sad we didnt get it . IMO blackpool really could have been brought back to life with the super casino and maybe it would have finally lost its run down dreary image...

[Ianto.W.]

Manchester was one of the first areas to be granted a license when that type of gambling was regularised. It is in Salford (also a city) situated between the now defunct dog track and the old Manchester Racecourse, it's name is The Salford Albion Casino, I was a member there in the 70s, as a friend of mine and I used to run Greyhounds in the area, and if we had a good night we would often call there. Blackpool already have a casino, and a million other ways to loose money, so in my humble opinion it has gone to the right place, where the 'high rollers' and the big money people reside, it is also more convenient for motorway gamblers.

[mani]

i guess what with half of manc dug up as it is - this wont make much of a difference

gonna need more hotels though *L*

but with manc's infrastructure adn the fact its a major city already that doesnt get bashed in when its cold/winter did alot of good too

feel sorry for bpool though. they do need something to happen

[katex]

So, this could be it :-

Manchesters_Super_Casino.jpg

Looks cool anyway

Not too sure about the blue skies though ... :-)

[WillowTheWhisp]

Looks a bit like wishful thinking for Manchester does that.